Cemetery Research Articles

Funeral and memorial rites of the Svetlovodsk burial ground of the Scythians in Central Ukraine

Funeral and memorial rites of the Svetlovodsk burial ground of the Scythians in Central Ukraine

Paleoanthropological Analysis of Osteological Material from the Myntobe Burial Ground

The article deals with the paleoanthropological analysis of the skeletons unearthed from the Myntobe necropolis and dated to the II – IV centuries AD. Myntobe necropolis is located 2 km south of Gani Muratbayev village in the Keles district of Turkestan province. The burial ground consists of more than 600 randomly located mounds of various sizes. All mounds have a dirt embankment. Archaeological excavations were carried out at the burial ground in 2017 and 2022, as a result of which burials in the catacombs and naus were unearthed. An analysis of the burial tradition and recovered material allows researchers to speak about the belonging of these burials to the Kangli tribes. Since the burials date back to the Kangli period, the theoretical part reveals the issues of the location and political structure of the tribes and, most importantly, the determination of the paleopathology of the Myntobints by conducting a macroscopic analysis of the discovered skeletons. The results of the analysis allowed for drawing preliminary conclusions about lifestyle, social life, and nutritional status. When writing the theoretical part of the article, electronic textbooks and resources from the book fund of the National Library of Kazakhstan and the library of the International Kazakh-Turkish University named after Kozh Ahmet Yasawi were used. In total, 9 skeletons were selected for paleoanthropological and paleopathological analysis, from mounds No. 3, No. 6, and No. 7. Paleoanthropological reasoning in the main section is written on the basis of materials in Turkish and English from the collections of Turkish libraries. The skeletons found were analyzed macroscopically and many diseases were identified, such as osteoarthritis (joint deformity), osteopathy, ankylosing spondylitis, heel spurs, thickening of the cranial bone, and deformity of the mandibular joint. Preliminary conclusions about the paleopathology of the discovered skeletons are made.

Chronology of an Elite Mound of the Yamnaya Culture Boldyrevo IV Burial Ground in the Orenburg Region According to Stratigraphy, Burial Rite and Radiocarbon Dating

The aim of this paper is to publish new radiocarbon dating data for three complexes stratified under one mound (mound No. 1 in the Boldyrevo IV burial ground in the Western Orenburg region), which are distinguished by the unusual nature of the burial in comparison with the known, reference necropolises of the Yamnaya culture. Kurgan 1, one of the largest in the Volga region and the Southern Urals, was investigated in 2019–2020. The early horizon was represented by two small mounds above the burials of children, surrounded by ditches consisting of separate pits. Later, between the mounds for children, a collective burial of five adults took place in a huge burial chamber with a complex design, over which a large mound was built, which also covered both children’s mounds. All the main burials under the early mounds and burial 5 under the large mound represent a single cultural and epochal complex and belong to the Yamnaya culture. According to archaeological and paleo-soil data, the construction of mound 1 occurred systematically over a time interval that is approximately 200 years. Radiocarbon dating showed that the construction of the mound occurred within the calibrated interval of 3200–2600 BC years. The site, apparently, before and during the creation of the mound, was the site of sacred ceremonies and public meetings of many clans of the Yamnaya culture. The induction burial of two women took place at the top of the mound at the end of the Bronze Age.

Marks on Arrowheads from Sites of the Piany Bor Culture

The article deals with arrowheads from sites of the Piany Bor culture with various marks applied to the items in the process of manufacture and use. In the course of work with museum collections, we managed to identify 38 arrowheads with marks, which come from 15 burials of Piany Bor burial grounds and one settlement monument. The purpose of markings can be different: from casual to purposeful. The analysis has shown that some of the marks are only traces of marking of the material during the manufacture of the item, the other part can be specially applied signs in the process of manufacture or while using. There is no reason to consider the marks as elements of writing systems. Chronologically the considered finds correspond to the I century BC – II century AD. The spread of marks on arrowheads from Piany Bor sites is probably an epochal phenomenon characteristic of the Middle Sarmatian time. The marks are not a direct copying and exact borrowing, but a reworking of the idea of marking of objects, using their own traditions of inscription of marks.

РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ БОХАЙСКИХ МОГИЛЬНИКОВ В КНР

The article summarizes the results of study of burial grounds and burials of Bohai state (698–926) located on the territory of China. Currently, more than twenty burial grounds and individual burials are known here, and in total about a thousand burials have been excavated. Most of Bohai burials are located in the valleys of four large rivers – the Second Songhua River, Mudanjiang River, Tumen River and Suifen River. Basing on the results of the work of Chinese researchers and structuring data on Bohai burials in accordance with the areas of their location, the author characterizes their local features and traces the process of their development in different eras.

Morphology of the bronze objects from the Pinchuga-6 burial ground

The article is concerned with bronze objects of the end of the Early Iron Age from the fully excavated burial ground of Pinchuga-6 in the Lower Angara River region. The cemetery is dated to the 3rd–4th centuries BC. All burials were made following the rite of burial on the side. Three categories of copper alloy products have been distinguished: belt set parts, jewelry, and cult castings. The components of the belt sets include flat openwork buckles, hoops and bird-shaped overlays. Flat openwork buck-les have no analogues in the neighbouring territories. They appeared on the basis of the circle of post-Hunnic cultures of South-ern Siberia and were used in the Angara taiga until the mid-1st millennium AD. One belt hoop with volutes and an openwork patch is of a typical Tashtyk Culture appearance. At the end of the Early Iron Age, bird-headed belt plates were used across a vast territory that stretched from the Ural Mountains in the west to the banks of the Yenisei and Angara Rivers in the east. The jewelry includes tubular cast and spiral beads, stripes and pendants. The majority of items are multi-functional — they could be worn different ways. All of them were widespread in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, and they do not have a clear cultural and chronological reference. At Pinchuga-6, various objects of cult casting were found, including ornitho-, zoo- and ichthyomor-phic images, and disks with a circular ornament. These items have similarities among the Ishim and Kholmogory collections, materials from the Aidashinskaya cave, and Tomsk and Ust-Abinsk burial grounds. Pinchuga-6 is currently the farthest north-eastern site where such objects have been found. The grave goods of the cemetery contain items of different cultural attribution made of copper-based alloys. In this single complex in the Angara River region, objects from Western Siberia, Khakass-Minusinsk depression, and, possibly, of local origin have been found. XRF analysis of the items has been carried out. Lead-tin and tin bronze prevail, although being in approximately equal quantities, individual objects are made of copper, a small amount of arsenic is traced in two buckles, one ornithomorphic image is cast from an alloy with a significant amount of silver. The clo-sest in this feature, as well as in the amount of tin and lead in the alloys, are the products of the Tomsk burial ground.

Bone items from burial No. 9 of the cemetery near the Berezovaya Mountain (traceological analysis and the search for analogies)

In this article, we analyze bone products from the male burial No. 9 of the cemetery near the Berezovaya Mountain (Oren-burg District of the Cis-Ural region) attributed to the Sintashta Culture (20th–18th centuries BC). The funerary complex is specifi-cally interesting because it combines the ritual and inventory of representatives of the Seima-Turbino phenomenon and items belonging to chariot cultures. Furthermore, an item rare for the cultures of the chariot circle of the Ural region was placed in the burial — a disc-shaped bone buckle. The aim of this work is to find an analogy for this buckle and for other bone items of the complex using traceology data. The buckle was traceologically processed on 31st July 2002 in the campus of the Orenburg archaeological expedition two days after its discovery; at the same time its drawing was made. An astragalus and a fragment of the articular angle of the animal's scapula, both having been placed within the burial, were also analysed. Due to field condi-tions, a portable contact microscope “Mikko” was used. The main focus of this work is the buckle. The results of the traceologi-cal analysis are being introduced into the scientific discourse. Besides, for the first time this article presents the results of tra-ceological study of a similar object from burial mound 27 near the city of Atkarsk. A total of 15 buckles with similar morphology have been analyzed, 11 of them have traceological definitions. A fragment of the product of the same type was only once identi-fied in the Sintashta necropolis (grave 30 of the Sintashta burial ground); the majority of similar items derive from the sites of the Abashev Culture of the Volga-Don region. It has been revealed that the analyzed artifacts could have been used as both belt buckles and ornaments/amulets. The artifact from the burial ground near the Berezovaya Mountain is most likely a buckle, jud-ging by its size and the size of the central hole. The discovery of a buckle typologically characteristic of the Don-Volga Abashevo Culture in the Sintashta Culture necropolis demonstrates the western connections of the population who left the site. The astragalus found in the burial could have been used as a fortune-telling/dice object. The functional purpose of the articular angle of the animal’s scapula has not been determined — no analogies have been found for it, though a possible circle of analo-gies has been outlined.

Non-ferrous metal of the Bronze Age of Northern Kazakhstan: geochemical characteristics and ore base

The chemical composition of 29 copper and bronze artifacts from the sites of the Petrovka and Alakul Cultures located be-tween the Tobol and Ishim Rivers (the burial grounds of Bekteniz and Dzhangildy 5, and the sites of Novonikolskoye 1 and Semioz-ernoye 2; Northern Kazakhstan) were analysed using mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma and laser ablation. The sites are 14C dated to the interval between the 19th–17th centuries BC. In the examined sample, the leading metallurgical group with a slight prevalence in both Petrovka and Alakul metals was “pure” copper; the second part of the metal was represented by tin bronzes — low-alloyed (up to 8 wt.% Sn) in the Petrovka, and high-alloyed (Sn up to 21 wt.%) in the Alakul Culture. The statistical analysis of the main components of trace elements in the metal demonstrated a division into six main geochemical groups. Among these, tin bronzes with an uninterpretable copper component (10 specimens), “pure” copper of Ural origin with Fe-Co-Ni-As-Zn correlations (9 specimens), and “pure” copper with polymetallic Sn-Pb-As-Ag-Se specialization (10 copies), corresponding to the ores of copper deposits of the Kokshetau anticlinorium, can be identified. An overview of the tectonic structures of Northern Ka-zakhstan shows the nearby presence of several porphyry copper and skarn deposits with ancient mines (Imantau, Baksinskoye, Akkan-Burlukskoye, etc.), which likely served as sources of copper ore. Closely associated with these are Greisen and quartz-vein-greisen tin deposits, but there is no reliable information about their use in ancient times. According to the composition of tin alloys in the analysed metal, two main types can be distinguished: tin (without correlation with other impurity elements) when using pure cassiterite, and tin-lead (with increased concentrations and correlation of As, Au, Bi, etc.) when using cassiterite-sulfide ores. The data show the association of the Bronze Age sites of Northern Kazakhstan with the ore and raw materials base in this region, and the intensity of trade exchange of metallurgical products between the Ural and Kazakhstan centers of metal production.

Where Was Sarai, the “Capital” of the Jochid Ulus? Some Perspectives for Research on Sarai

Abstract Regarding Sarai – the “capital” of the Jochid ulus (Golden Horde) and the “metropolis of the Qipchaq Steppe” – it is the established theory that Old Sarai was located at the Selitrennoe site, and New Sarai at the Tsarevskoe site, both on the Akhtuba River. However, new theories that disagree with this have emerged: these theories claim that there was only one Sarai, or that Sarai was located at different places. First, I examine these new theories, and show that, indeed, there may have been two Sarais, old and new. Next, I argue the following possibilities: the lower Volga valley between Sarai–Hajji Tarkhan as winter camp and Ukek–Bulgar as summer camp was the “capital region” of the early Jochid ulus; Saraijuq has been discussed as being the khans’ burial grounds (qoruq), however, from archaeological surveys and the “[dynasty] table” (jadwal) in the Paris manuscript of Muntakhab al-Tawārīkh-i Muʿīnī, Sarai (and its suburbs) also assumed that role.

Dynamic Funerary Monuments of North-western Europe: Chronological Modelling of a Late Neolithic–Pre-Roman Iron Age Cemetery Complex at Mang de Bargen, Northern Germany

This study presents the first extensive radiocarbon dating programme of Bronze Age material from northern Germany, and it combines radiocarbon dates, relative typo-chronological date ranges, and stratigraphic data within a Bayesian chronological framework. We estimate the cemetery complex at Mang de Bargen (Bornhöved, distr. Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein) to be in use for more than two millennia, which is exceptionally long in northern Germany and in a wider European context. The site provides a unique insight into the dynamic nature of burial monuments and associated burial practices, from the Late Neolithic and into the Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 2500–50 bc). The barrow building tradition lasted around a millennium (c. 2350 –1300 bc), with several barrows in concurrent use. The barrows were persistently re-used as burial ground, both within ‘living memory’ of the primary graves, but also long after. The burial intensity varied over the cemetery’s use-life, with distinct peaks in the Late Neolithic, when the first barrows were erected; in the Older Bronze Age when more barrows were erected; in the Younger Bronze Age, when secondary cremation graves were added to existing barrows; and finally in the Pre-Roman Iron Age, with the addition of an urnfield. The funerary rituals vary considerably over the period: from inhumation to cremation, and from primary and secondary graves in barrows to flat graves. Cremation was introduced in the 14th century bc but inhumation and cremation were used in parallel for around a century before the former ritual was abandoned c. 1300 bc. The study provides absolute chronological distributions of the grave types present at Mang de Bargen and shows them to be comparable to other sites at a regional and over-regional scale, successfully demonstrating how new types were quickly adopted across large parts of north-western Europe.

Set Belts from the Catacomb No. 31 of the Early-Medieval Burial Ground near Verkhnii Saltiv Village

The materials of the catacomb burial no. 31 investigated in 1985 by the expedition of the Kharkiv Historical Museum under the leadership of V. H. Borodulina on the main site of the Early-Medieval burial ground in Verknii Saltiv village (VSM1) are introduced into the scientific circulation. The burial chamber, transverse to the dromos, contained the remains of two people (a man and a woman) with the traces of deliberate destruction committed in ancient times (fig. 1: 1). Inventory found with the buried people (fig. 2) allows dating this complex to the second — third quarters of the 9th century. The elements of the belt set found in the burial, represented by cast bronze plaques and a fragment of a bronze belt buckle (fig. 1: 2—6) are of interest. Two belt plaques with a fixed loop in the lower part of the shield are decorated with a lotus ornament (fig. 1: 6) typical for the 3rd chronological horizon of the Saltiv antiquities. Two square-shaped plaques with a rectangular hole that has a pointed top in the lower part of the shield (fig. 1: 3, 4) are distinctive among the Turkic antiquities of the 8th—10th centuries. Similar plaques of the Saltiv period are found in the assemblages of the Volga River middle region and the Southern Urals (Volga Bulgarians, Magyars, Mordovians, Mari), where they are part of the decorations of the Turk-Ural circle. Five more round plaques are decorated with floral ornament (fig. 1: 5), which finds analogies in the monuments of the “Magyar” circle of the 9th—10th centuries (Elizavetino-Mikhailovka, Kriukovo-Kuzhnovskii burial grounds in the Volga region, burial in the village of Nova Mykolaivka in the Dnipro Oblast). This belt set consists of three types of plaques that correspond to different traditions. Appearance of the set reflects existence of certain military fashion in the Saltiv society associated with the role played by the Magyars in the 830–890s, being in allied relations with the top of the Khazar Khaganate.

The system of ornamental elements in animal-style images from the Ulandryk I burial ground

The article is devoted to the analysis of the system of ornamental elements on animal style products from the Ulandryk I. The purpose of the study is to identify and classify ornamental elements in zoomorphic and ornithomorphic images. The subject of the study, therefore, are objects with zoomorphic images from mounds 1-4, 6 and 12 of the Ulandryk I. The group of monuments in the context of one burial was chosen mainly for two reasons. Firstly, objects with zoomorphic images were found only in these burial mounds. Secondly, the study of the data on the dating of the monument by the method of wood-ring analysis showed that these mounds were built within 10 years – in 308-298 BC. A short time interval for the creation of mounds allows us to consider the ornamental system presented in their images as a single whole, without separation into individual mounds. The article suggests using the method of formal analysis to clarify the description of ornaments available in the works of V.D. Kubarev – to divide them into elements and motifs, as well as to make a classification. This classification makes it possible to identify ornamental elements characteristic of zoomorphic images and clarify the boundaries of the use of various ornamental elements in the art of the Pazyryk culture. The scientific novelty of the study is predetermined by the absence in Russian historiography of works describing the system of ornamental elements in the images of the animal style of the burial ground, as well as the lack of a developed methodology for such a description in relation to the archaeological materials of the Pazyryk culture. The study of the materials of V.D. Kubarev's excavations, presented by him in a 1987 monograph, as well as the latest publications of the materials of the burial ground by G.V. Kubarev, revealed that despite the presence of ornamental elements both in the images of animal style and in objects of weapons, costume, horse equipment, there is no unified system and the described structure of the ornamental system based on the materials of the burial ground. Researchers identify individual motifs and elements on clothing items, but do not correlate them with similar ones in animal-style images. The relevance is due to the interest in studying various aspects of the meanings of zoomorphic images and ornamental elements in the context of the art of the Scythian-Siberian world.

Anthropological materials of the Bronze Age from the Ishkininsky burial mounds of Orenburg Region

The Ishkinin mounds are located on the territory of ancient copper mines that could have been created by the miners themselves. The materials from the burials of these burial grounds in total include six skeletons belonging to the Yamnaya and Alakul archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age. The people of the early stage of this epoch, judging by its morphological features, represent a rather tall Europeoid population. The restored male skull (Ishkinovka I, 3/7) is specific, differs from typical pit craniums of the Volga-Ural region in ultradolichocrania, and a very high face. According to male heredity, this individual has the same haplogroup that was characteristic of many Volga-Ural Ural Yamnaya people (R-Z2106), and according to female (mtDNA: H13a1a1), he finds a complete analogy with the sample of the Khvalyn Chalcolithic culture (Khlopkov Hillock, item 8), the owner of which craniologically represents a typical Uraloid complex. Probably, the physical characteristics of this person, and the appearance in general, are a reflection of the mestization of his progenitors. The Alakul skeletons of the Ishkinovka I and III burial grounds are more graceful. Taking into account previously published information, the bearers of the Alakul culture of the Late Bronze Age had a genesis unrelated to the ancient Yamal population. This, as well as archaeological data, shows that the ancient mines were developed for quite a long time, and by carriers of different archaeological cultures. The presence of cases of injury and natural pathologies on the skeletons of both cultures may indicate the presence of stress factors that caused their occurrence.

Ecological and floristic features of modern plant groupings on the territory of the Kipchak archaeological complex

The article presents the results of the study of the peculiarities of the existing vegetation cover on the territory of the Kipchak archaeological complex (Republic of Bashkortostan). The data of ecological and botanical description are presented, which contribute to the interpretation of the natural state of vegetation groupings on the territory where archaeological surveys are conducted. The investigated burial ground and settlement are part of the objects of the Kipchak archaeological complex and are located near the village of Kipchakovo. The article includes a list of vascular plants that were discovered and described in this area during the survey in 2022, indicating their relevance to the trial areas of the Kipchak archaeological complex. According to the survey data the most widespread species of vascular plants were identified, they include: Vicia tenuifolia Roth, Fragaria vesca L., Trifolium alpestre L., Galium verum L., Achillea millefolium L., Achillea millefolium L., Dactylis glomerata L., mountain clover Trifolium montanum L., Trifolium medium L., Galium boreale L., Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski. To date, the study area is assessed as slightly disturbed.

A Distinct Form of Socio-Political and Economic Organization in the Pazyryk Culture

The Pazyryk Culture, situated in the Altai Mountains of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China, flourished for a relatively short period: 5th–3rd centuries BCE. A series of burial grounds from the later phase, 4th–mid-3rd centuries BCE, to be studied here reveal the remains of three groups of individuals of high, mid, and lower status. Within the limiting topographical and environmental confines of the local region, in contrast to the vast grasslands of the steppe and the deserts and oases of Central Asia, it is possible via the analysis of material culture and with reference to ethnographic studies to see nuances of interaction among these three groups and the regions immediately adjacent during this short period. Aided by modern scientific techniques, including DNA and isotopic analysis, together with analysis of excavated and often frozen remains, it is also possible to map out a heterarchical set of relationships within the hierarchical framework. The model developed in this unique landscape might be tested elsewhere in Eurasia as it extends the application of the notion of nonuniform socio-political organization among pastoralists noted for Bronze Age societies in the Eurasian steppe to the late Iron Age.

Kinship practices at the early bronze age site of Leubingen in Central Germany

With the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe ~ 2200 BC, a regional and supra-regional hierarchical social organization emerged with few individuals in positions of power (chiefs), set apart by rich graves with extensive burial constructions. However, the social organization and stratification within the majority of people, who represent the non-elite, remain unclear. Here, we present genome-wide data of 46 individuals from the Early Bronze Age burial ground of Leubingen in today’s Germany, integrating archaeological, genetic and strontium isotope data to gain new insights into Early Bronze Age societies. We were able to reconstruct five pedigrees which constitute the members of close biological kinship groups (parents and their offspring), and also identify individuals who are not related to individuals buried at the site. Based on combined lines of evidence, we observe that the kinship structure of the burial community was predominantly patrilineal/virilocal involving female exogamy. Further, we detect a difference in the amount of grave goods among the individuals buried at Leubingen based on genetic sex, age at death and locality but see no difference in the types of grave goods.

Dental health status of the medieval silver-mining community from Kutná Hora (Czech Republic, 13th–16th c.): Impact of socioeconomic changes and mortality crises

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the pathological conditions in teeth from skeletal remains found in the medieval burial ground at Kutná Hora (13th–16th centuries, Czech Republic). We focused on the effect on dental health of socioeconomic changes associated with the boom in silver mining at the site. DesignIn this study, dental caries and antemortem tooth loss were recorded for 469 sexed adults (10,558 permanent teeth). Pathologies were analysed and presented by teeth and alveoli, and the differences between their frequencies were tested in sex-, age-, and burial context-separated groups (mass vs. individual graves). ResultsThe oral conditions were characterised by a low frequency of caries and moderate frequency of antemortem tooth loss (AMTL). For caries, males and females showed the same frequencies while AMTL comparisons indicated a higher rate in females. Most differences emerged between age-separated and burial context-separated groups. The age progression of the pathologies was confirmed for both caries and AMTL. Skeletons from mass burials had higher caries and AMTL frequencies than those buried in individual graves. ConclusionsThe dataset exhibited low caries and below average AMTL rates compared to other medieval European skeletal series. We think that life in this mining centre had a positive effect on the dental health of its inhabitants. The relatively poorer dental health of those buried in mass graves reflected either the specific composition of the population in the first half of the 14th century or the lower resilience of these individuals when facing mortality crises.

예이츠의 슬라이고와 엘리엇의 이스트 코우커

Starting with a general assumption that poets and regions are closely connected, this study discusses the significance of specific locales in the works of Yeats and Eliot, who are at the center of “international” modernism beyond regional boundaries. This paper focuses on Yeats’s Sligo and Eliot’s East Coker, the places that they chose as their burial grounds, with the locales’ close proximity to their origins in mind. While examining their biographical details and letters related to Sligo and East Coker, and exploring how these regions are reproduced in Yeats’s poems and Eliot’s “East Coker,” we will find interesting points of comparison between the two poets. Yeats’s experience in Sligo County provides explicit settings and materials such as Sligo place names and mythic figures, and in his poems about Sligo, the literal and the mythical are mingled. In “East Coker,” however, Eliot explores more symbolic and metaphysical meanings evoked by the small village of East Coker, even with its casual or distinct associations with him and his ancestors. In addition, this study concludes with how the present ambience of Sligo and East Coker may function for the 21st century readers of Yeats and Eliot.

Human–wildlife coexistence on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: The correlation between Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and avian community composition

Abstract Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are widely distributed throughout the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and are significant locations for human–wildlife coexistence. Given the significance of their historical and contemporary social influence, it is crucial to ascertain whether there exists a non‐negligible correlation between these monasteries and their surrounding wildlife. In contrast to sacred mountains and lakes, there have been few studies that have examined the relationship between Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and wildlife communities. Using birds as a model ecological community, generalized mixed effect models (GLMM) were employed to examine relationships between the presence of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and the number of individuals (relative abundance), avian species richness and diversity, using data from bird‐watching checklists (n = 262) obtained from the China Bird Report. Our models also included landscape‐wide environmental factors, including the ratio of woodland habitat, grassland habitat and open habitats, human footprint index, distance to nearest human occupation (villages), distance to water, altitude, time, presence of monastery and their interactions. Observation time was included as a model covariate. The presence of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and the interactions between the presence of monasteries and environmental variables exhibit a significant correlation with the number of individual birds recorded (relative abundance), but not with observed species richness or diversity. Moreover, the relative abundance of birds was found to be significantly higher in areas around monasteries compared to those without monasteries. The abundance of species from eight families, namely Accipitridae, Corvidae, Columbidae, Passeridae, Leiothrichidae, Friningillidae, Musciapidae and Turidae, was significantly positively correlated with the presence of monasteries. Notably, the positive correlation of Accipitridae with the presence of celestial burial grounds around monasteries suggests a relationship between celestial burial practices and Accipitridae abundance at these sites. Our study reveals a significant positive correlation between Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and aspects of avian community composition in the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, thus highlights their potential role in the preservation of avian populations in fragmented landscape habitats. We encourage the government and relevant national parks stakeholders to implement targeted management strategies that take into account the unique patterns of human–wildlife coexistence in these areas, and to leverage the cultural advantages of the region to promote ecological conservation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Muslim Holy Sites in the Southern Urals: geoinformation mapping and spatial analysis

In the last decade, there has been a tendency in the Southern Urals to reconstruct old and to form new holy places revered by Muslims. To date, more than 115 such objects have been recorded. Most of them are revered only by the residents of small villages, but some have acquired great importance for Muslims throughout the region. The purpose of this work is to identify the most popular places of worship of Muslims in the Southern Urals. Considering that some of the objects of regional importance have been revered by Muslims since the XIV century, and others, having appeared relatively recently, quickly became one of the most visited places, it is necessary to determine the factors influencing the growth of this popularity. The study supposed the Geoinformation methods to be used. Thus, using free Quantum GIS software, and on the basis of archival materials, archaeologists’, ethnographers’, religious scholars’, culturologists’ groundwork, as well as referring to the materials of Internet communities and other open sources, we have created the following layers: 1) Mausoleums, 2) Places of worship according to the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, 3) Places of worship according to the Internet community Sufi RB, 4) Religious tourist routes. Using a comparative method, it was determined that the most popular among Muslims in the region are the mausoleum of Hussein-Bey and Mount Narystau (Ilchigulovo IV, kurgan burial ground). The results of the study indicate that the popularity of objects is influenced by a number of factors: they can be identified as the presence of a monumental structure, the representation of the object in the media space and in the Internet, as well as the availability of objective scientific data about it.